


The Rift

by Shi_Toyu



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Gen, Guilt, Hurt Tony Stark, Loss, Pre-Civil War (Marvel), Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric, Wanda Bashing, Wanda Is A Bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:10:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6685045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite popular belief, Tony Stark knew exactly where his place was in the world.</p><p>“Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?”</p><p>The events of Civil War didn't happen out of the blue. There was lead up. There was plenty of lead up. And, really, Tony just wants to keep his promise to a dying man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rift

**Author's Note:**

> Having, of course, not seen the movie yet, these are my thoughts on what would have led Tony to the decisions we see him make.

Despite popular belief, Tony Stark knew exactly where his place was in the world.

_“Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?”_

Tony was under no illusions that he was a real hero, not like the others, like Cap and Sam who were in this because they cared about the greater good. Tony wasn’t nearly so selfless.

_“Tony Stark: Not recommended.”_

Agent Romanov’s assessment hadn’t been inaccurate, after all. Tony was well aware of just how volatile and self-absorbed he could be. He’d certainly had it mentioned to him enough times. One didn’t need to be a genius to understand what so many people told him in plain English. She was still wrong, though, Tony wasn’t doing any of this just too goof off or for the perceived glory.

_“Everyone is afraid of something.”_

Well, Wanda had been right about that, Tony supposed, even if she was wrong about so many other things, even if she was naïve and far simpler than she believed herself to be. Tony knew fear, probably more intimately that she ever would. How long had she and her brother spent trapped in that building staring at his missile? He couldn’t even remember. He just knew for sure that it hadn’t been three months. He understood her hating him for it, though. He understood that completely. He just didn’t understand how that justified getting into Bruce’s head and sending him to attack a city.

Oh, and hadn’t _that_ little detail infuriated him when he found out. Bruce still hadn’t shown up again, not even a trace, because of his guilt over what had happened. Yet Wanda pranced around with Cap and the others at her side as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn’t been the cause of all that destruction. Tony’s fingers tightened around his glass of scotch at the mere thought, his gaze sweeping the New York skyline from the penthouse of his tower.

There had been a time when Tony had envisioned all of the Avengers living in his tower together and not just using it as a base of operations. There had been signs they were moving in that direction, too, so Tony knew it hadn’t just been all in his head. The others would hang out for a couple of days between missions. There’d been parties and movies and science time with Bruce. That had all been before Ultron, though, before Tony had let his fear get away from him and nearly caused the destruction of the planet. He wouldn’t soon forget those mistakes that had led to him losing his team, the people he was just tentatively able to call friends before that horrible night.

Loss had always been Tony’s greatest teacher. His parents, Jarvis, Obie, Ty, Yinsen, his heart, his home, countless ‘friends’, JARVIS…He was an expert in it, nearly as much of an expert as he was in fear. He supposed he deserved it, though, after everything he had done throughout his life. It was part of his place in the world. Tony Stark was the man who had everything, and yet nothing. It was almost funny how much and how little had changed since he had met Yinsen in that cave. Tony often wondered what the man would think of him now, but always decided he’d rather not know. He was sure it wouldn’t be anything good. How could it be?

Yinsen had told Tony not to waste his life and, in all honestly, for a while Tony had thought that was exactly what he was doing. He’d been wrong, and JARVIS’s death had been the final straw to opening his eyes to that fact. Hadn’t be been warned of the dangers of what he was trying to do? How many people had tried to reign him in over the years from one project or another? Tony had always thought of what he was doing as trying to improve things, but it was time to face the truth. Tony wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t _helping_ anyone. He was a danger…and he wasn’t the only one.

When he’d first been approached about the Registration Act, Tony had all but rejected it outright. Hadn’t he already fought to keep his suits out of government hands? Didn’t he cherish his own privacy, what little he could get outside of the paparazzi?  But it was an idea that had stayed with him, that had made a home in the back of his mind and slowly expanded further and further. He needed to be kept in check. They _all_ needed to be kept in check. How many times had something horrible happened because of a super? More often than not, it was an accident and not mal-intent. They needed protection, but so did the rest of the world.

Tony crossed back to his glass-topped coffee table, all modern lines and carefully selected by an interior designer he’d never even met. He set his scotch aside in favor of the tablet that lay upon its surface, screen dark since Tony had left it there and walked away for a drink he’d desperately needed. It lit up again instantly as he lifted it, showing the Registration Act proposal he’d been perusing once again.

_“Don’t waste your life, Stark.”_


End file.
